Thumb sucking preventer



May 6, 1969 5. J. KRYGIER THUMB SUCKING PREVENTER Filed Jan. 5, 1967 United States Patent 3,442,267 THUMB SUCKING PREVENTER Stanley James Krygier, 1700 Wawasett Ave., Wilmington, Del. 19806 Filed Jan. 5, 1967, Ser. No. 607,543 Int. Cl. A613 17/00 US. Cl. 128-133 5 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A thumb sucking preventer is in the form of a flexible hand covering mitt which includes protuberances capable of acting as pacifiers. The mitt may be manipulated to minimize or eliminate any adverse psychological affect commonly attendant with conventional thumb sucking preventers.

This invention relates to a thumb sucking preventer which is capable of serving as a pacifier.

Conventional thumb sucking preventers either restrain the child from raising his arm sufliciently and thus inserting his thumb in his mouth or simply cover the hand with some form of mitt so that the thumb cannot be inserted in the mouth. The mitt type preventers can usually be secured to the wrist by a string or otherwise tied thereto. This form of attachment has an adverse psychological affect of making the child feel he is being punished. This affect also occurs when the arm of the child is restrained or limited from free movement.

An object of this invention is to provide a thumb sucking preventer which overcomes the above indicated adverse psychological affect.

A further object is to provide such a thumb sucking preventer which is also capable of acting as a pacifier.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a thumb sucking preventer which may serve as a means of entertainment for the wearer.

In accordance with this invention the thumb sucking preventer is made in the form of a flexible mitt which completely covers the hand. The mitt is shaped in the form of, for example, a caricature of a living object so that the child may freely manipulate the mitt as a means of amusement. Advantageously protuberances are provided on the mitt which can conveniently serve as pacifiers. These protuberances may be parts of the body such as ears or the nose and may be hollow and thereby serving a dual function; one function being to permit the child to insert his fingers therein which enhances the use of the protuberance as a pacifier. A further function also results from the ability of the child to insert his fingers in the protuberances in that the manipulation of the mitt is thus facilitated.

Novel features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent to one skilled in the art from a reading of the description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein similar reference characters refer to similar parts and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a front view of one embodiment of this invention; and

FIGURE 2 is a side view of the embodiment of the invention shown in FIGURE 1.

As indicated in FIGURE 1 the thumb sucking preventer 10 is made in the form of a flexible mitt which completely covers the hand. The mitt is shaped in the form of a caricature resembling a living object. As illustrated in the drawings this caricature is a clown. Other shapes, however, may be used without departing from the spirit of the invention. Advantageously the mitt is lightly secured to the wrist 12 of the child by means of the resilient flexible neck portion 14. Ventilation is provided for the hand by, for example, openings 16 liberally distributed about the back portion.

Advantageously the nose 1-8, ears 20, and hat 22 of the mitt are hollow bulbous protrusions which are so shaped that they may function as pacifiers without any detrimental affect to the teeth as would result by the child inserting his thumb in his mouth. These protrusions 18, 20, 22 serve a dual function since the child may insert a finger in each of the protrusions. One function is to facilitate their use as a pacifier. A further function is to enhance the manipulation of the mitt so that it can serve, for example, as a hand puppet.

The use of the mitt as a hand puppet or amusement device in addition to the light securement of the mitt on the child by means of the neck of the clown, eliminates any adverse psychological affect that normally occurs with prior thumb sucking preventers, that the child is being punished in some way.

Since the mitt is shaped so that portions of it may be inserted in the mouth it is made of a nontoxic material. As indicated above the material should be flexible so that the hand of the child can be conveniently inserted through the neck 14 and so that the mitt may be manipulated by the child.

The selection of a clown as the caricature is particularly advantageous in that it readily lends itself to the inclusion of the hollow integral bulbous protrusions such as the exaggerated nose and ears as well as the relatively small hat. Additionally the neck of the clown is conveniently shaped to assure light securement of the mitt without the child being conscious or made unduly aware that he is wearing a thumb sucking preventer. Although a clown is illustrated, other caricatures may be used which serve the function of a hand puppet and of providing pacifier means.

Obviously many variations of the invention are possible in light of the above teachings. It is therefore to be understood that within the scope of the appended claims the invention may be practiced otherwise than specifically described.

What is claimed is:

1. A thumb sucking preventer comprising a mitt to be worn on a hand whereby the user may freely extend, bend and manipulate his fingers, said mitt being in the form of a caricature to resemble a living object, said mitt being made of a nontoxic flexible material whereby it may be manipulated by the hand therein, ventilating means on said mitt to provide air circulation therein, spaced pacifier means on said. mitt, said spaced pacifier means including a plurality of hollow bulbous protrusions, and each of said protrusions constituting an integral portion of said caricature.

2. A thumb sucking preventer as set forth in claim 1 wherein said protrusions include a hollow nose and ear portions of said caricature.

3. A thumb sucking preventer as set forth in claim 2 wherein said protrusions further include a hollow hat portion of said caricature.

4. A thumb sucking preventer as set forth in claim 3 wherein said caricature is a clown including facial details.

5. A thumb sucking preventer as set forth in claim 4 wherein the neck portion of said clown comprises means for lightly attaching saidmitt to a Wrist of the wearer.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,417,860 5/1922 Reich 46-154, 1,607,055 11/1926 Cooper 128359 5 2,586,608 2/1952 Bryson 2 158 2,783,759 3/1957 Hill 128133 2,827,055 3/1958 Carden 128359 2,860,639 11/1958 Hoover 128359 ADELE M. EAGER, Primary Examiner.

U.S. c1. X.R. 

